Jamie Foxx wasn't allowed on stage in college musical because he's black

Oscar winner Jamie Foxx revealed he encountered racism before his Hollywood career took off.

Foxx recounted an incident in college saying he was not allowed to appear on stage in a musical because of his ethnicity.

The 50-year-old star, who was in conversation with comic Sarah Silverman on "Off Script", said he used to sing his parts from behind the curtains as African Americans were not a part of the production team, People magazine reported.

"They came to me because they needed a tenor. They wouldn't let me go on the stage but they would let me behind the curtain because there weren't any African Americans in the production. So I was would sing in the back, and I would just sing the parts they needed me (for)," Foxx said of his college music department.

The Grammy-winning actor-singer, however, did not reveal the name of the play. He attended United States International University, where he studied classical music and composition.

Foxx added, "And that's how I learned about musicals."